Local Cruise Nights - Let The Cruising Begin

We've done an article like this before. Longtime readers, go to your archives and dig up the Mar. '99 issue of CC to see the inspiration for this iteration. In it, former staffer Miles Cook and his brother, Wayne, hit as many local cruises as they could in a week's time and lived to tell the tale.

Current staffers who are Midwest transplants can sympathize with those suffering through--and likely just now digging out of--a long, cold, and especially snowy winter. Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes cruising. So, to get you in the mood, we crammed as many cruise nights/car events into as few days as possible as inspiration to get your car ready for summer fun. As we write this, it is the first week of February and, even here in sunny Los Angeles, there aren't cruises every night. Southern Californians are a wimpy bunch, and temperatures below 55 keep people indoors with the windows shuttered tight. That scuttled our plans to attend one cruise per day of the week, but we were able to fill up a CF card or two of cruising pictures over a nine-day span. Like Miles and Wayne did nearly 10 years ago, we hit each spot in a Ford, though this time we took our '03 Crown Victoria instead of the Cook brothers' much-cooler '64 Fairlane. Here's how it went down.

Sunday--The Pomona Swap MeetOK, right off the bat, we're stretching the rules a bit. The Pomona Swap Meet isn't technically a cruise, and it happens only seven times a year. We're counting it anyway because there wasn't much selling going on, but there were plenty of cars cruising the fairgrounds.

8/25

Tuesday--Fuddruckers Lake ForestWe'd never been to this cruise before, but it's been going on in this same Orange County location for 16 years. Hector Rodriguez of Cruise Night Productions, sponsor of the show, apologized for the low turnout of about 40 cars. "Usually we'll have about 200 cars here when the weather is nice." (See what we mean!) Still, there was a really good collection of muscle cars here, and they reflect the demographic of the area--there wasn't a primered beater in the lot.

Thursday--Irwindale RacewayWe're fudging the rules again to accommodate a night of drag racing. And really, your local test 'n' tune is just cruising taken to the next level to include such gross displays of horsepower as burnouts, full-throttle acceleration, and plenty of trash talking. With the CC/Rambler fresh off a clutch change, we caravanned with Editor Glad to the track for a night of eighth-mile drag racing.

17/25

FridayFriday is Bob's night, as in Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. This is a legendary cruise spot in Los Angeles County, and Bob's has been hosting a Friday night cruise for decades. The restaurant itself opened in 1949 and is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in the U.S. Architect Wayne McAllister penned its swoopy, space-age design that is so distinctive-looking today among the surrounding office buildings and generic shopping centers. Because of its popularity, you'll see a little of everything at Bob's--from million-dollar Shelby Cobras to rat rods that look like they were built for less than the cost of a Big Boy burger, there's always something cool to look at and interesting people to talk to.

Saturday--Donut DerelictsThis is another long-running Southern California car cruise. It's been taking place every Saturday morning at the corner of Adams and Magnolia in Huntington Beach since 1986. This was our favorite spot of the week. There was a great turnout that morning, and the lot was full of really cool and unique cars and friendly people with absolutely no attitude.

Cars And CoffeeHere's a spot we had high hopes for but were somewhat let down. Cars and Coffee has been happening every Saturday morning at Ford's PAG (Premier Automotive Group) facility in Irvine for a few years now. We'd heard good things about the show but had never been there. We sped out of the Donut Derelicts lot at 9 a.m., heading just a few more miles down the freeway to Irvine. This would be a great show if you're into late-model Japanese sports cars--we've never seen so many Honda S2000s and Acura NSXs together in one place before. But there was very little in the way of American muscle. We hung out for about an hour before calling it quits.